Word: barlowe
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While not as physical, Blair Barlow is the most offensive-minded of the three sophomores. His six points last year trailed only Capouch among Harvard defensemen, and he will be expected to quarterback the Crimson power-play...
...modern menaces in the same area of the brain our ancient ancestors did--the paralimbic region, which mediates a whole range of primal responses, including anger and sexual arousal. "It seems that contemporary people learned from their ancient ancestors what to be afraid of and how to handle it," Barlow says...
...phobia the most is the strategy the phobics rely on to ease their discomfort: avoidance. The harder phobics work to avoid the things they fear, the more the brain grows convinced that the threat is real. "The things you do to reduce anxiety just make it worse," says Barlow. "We have to strip those things away...
...that's what doctors do. A patient visiting Barlow's Boston clinic is first assessed for the presence of a specific phobia and then guided through an intensive day or two of graduated exposure. People who are afraid of syringes and blood, for example, may first be shown a magazine photo with a trace of blood depicted in it. Innocuous photos give way to graphic ones, and graphic ones to a display of a real, empty syringe. Over time, the syringe is brought closer, and the patient learns to hold it and even tolerate having blood drawn...
...further. For some situations impossible to re-create in a doctor's office--like heights and flying in airplanes--virtual-reality programs are available to provide simulated exposure under professional supervision. Software for other fears is being written all the time. "Not all people respond to virtual reality," says Barlow, "but on average, it's just as effective for treating certain phobias." If specific phobias were the only type of phobias around, things would be decidedly easier for doctors and patients. But the two other members of the phobia troika--social phobias and panic disorders--can be a little trickier...